Standalone emergency department OK'd in Tenn.

The Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency has approved a standalone emergency department proposed by HCA's TriStar Health System in Spring Hill, Tenn., by a 4-3 vote.

The agency's board has twice approved proposals by Nashville-based HCA to build a 56-bed hospital in Spring Hill, a bedroom community about 35 miles south of Nashville. Both of those certificates of need were reversed on appeals brought by local competitors.

Robert Otwell, CEO of one of the competitors, Maury Regional Medical Center, Columbia, Tenn., said in a statement that the hospital does not plan to appeal the decision. Otwell said the proposed facility would be more like an urgent-care center than a true emergency room, with more-serious cases transferred to HCA’s Centennial Medical Center in Nashville.

Another competitor, Williamson Medical Center, Franklin, Tenn., is considering proposals to offer 24/7 urgent-care services in Spring Hill with Maury Regional and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, according to a statement attributed to Williamson CEO Dennis Miller. The statement did not say whether the hospital is considering an appeal of the decision.